'Mom am I going to die?' Parents of terminally-ill girl, 12, explain their heart breaking decision to tell daughter she would lose her three-year battle with cancer

Brave: Emily Lewis was diagnosed at the age of nine with Wilms tumor, a pediatric kidney cancer

It's a question no parent expects to hear and certainly not one they can easily answer.

Three years after she began her battle with Wilms Tumor, Emily Lewis, from Ohio, asked her mother Debbie: 'Mom, am I going to die?'

Diagnosed at age nine with the childhood kidney cancer which then spread throughout her lungs, there was no doubt in Mrs Lewis' mind that she would tell Emily the truth.

She died two months later in hospice care.

Spending years in and out of treatment going through aggressive therapy, doctors told Emily's parents there was nothing more they could do for her.

Mrs Lewis told ABC: 'She deserved to know as much as we knew, based on her ability to understand it.' It was the hardest thing she ever had to do.

Emily was diagnosed with Wilms tumor in August 2006. She died from the disease exactly three years later.

It wasn't the childhood kidney cancer that killed her, as doctors had successfully removed the tumor and the kidney, but the resulting lung cancer which rapidly spread throughout her lungs.

From 2006 to 2009, Emily endured multiple surgeries, aggressive chemotherapy, radiation sessions and numerous clinical drug trials. Her parents said throughout that time, she never lost her smile, her courage or her strength.

Mrs Lewis told ABC that being honest with Emily about her disease actually empowered her daughter to enjoy her life until the end.

She continued to go to school, earned an orange belt in Taekwondo and sang in her school's choir. She was also active in fundraising efforts for pediatric cancer, acting as an advocate for other children in need.

Fundraising events: Debbie Lewis, left, with her son Andrew, right, and daughter Emily, centre, who died in 2009 after a three-year battle with cancer

Strong to the end: Emily with her parents four months before she died participating in a fundraising run for other children in need. Debbie said she was inspirational even though she knew she was dying

Mrs Lewis said: 'I was so proud during the Christmas concert at her school. She was bald
and had a feeding tube in, but she was up on stage singing with
everyone else.

'She felt empowered knowing what was going
on in all aspects of her life.'

Medical experts say parents should be honest with their children in these types of tragic situations, believing it to be beneficial for both parties. In a recent study, the majority of parents who did not tell their child they were going to die regretted the decision.